Dr. Milton Anthony Silveira - Mattapoisett, Massachusetts - Citizen Memorials on Waymarking.com

This plaque is dedicated by the Town of Mattapoisett to
Dr. Milton Anthony Silveira
May 4, 1929 – July 11, 2013

Dr. Silveira was a native of Mattapoisett, Massachusetts and Chief Engineer of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He attended Fairhaven high school, graduated for the University of Vermont with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and from the University of Virginia with a M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering. He also attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the University of Houston. He was awarded honorary Dr. of Science from the University of Vermont in 1977. His love of Aeronautics began at age 16 when he acquired his pilot’s license. While at the University of Vermont he was president of the flying club. In June 1951, he joined the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) which later became NASA. In September 1951, he was called to duty as an Army aviator where he flew helicopters the United States Army and later served as the Chief Engineering and Maintenance Officer for all the United States 8th Army in Korea. In 1955, he returned to NASA where he worked on all United States manned spacecraft programs in pursuit of putting a man on the moon. In 1961, he moved to the Johnson space Center in Houston, Texas. He was the Program Manager of Little Joe II in support of the Apollo Program in supported the Skylab Program. Later he was manager of the Space Shuttle Engineering Office and the Deputy Manager of the Orbiter Project Office. He then went to NASA headquarters becoming the assistant to the NASA Deputy Director and later the NASA Chief Engineer. He retired from NASA after 36 years of service. He received numerous awards and citations during his NASA career. He continued his association with NASA by consulting in support of the NASA space exploration program.